Iconic tune: Bands compete to sing casino’s ad jingle

Friday

Feb 26, 2010 at 12:01 AMFeb 26, 2010 at 2:01 PM

It has been one of the most ubiquitous sound snippets of the past decade, a soaring little melody whose infectious allure only makes it more difficult to ignore. Love it or hate it – and after its relentless ad campaign, there are plenty of folks in both camps – the Foxwoods Casino theme, “Wonder of It All” sung by Johnny Pizzarelli, has become part of the culture.

Jay N. Miller

It has been one of the most ubiquitous sound snippets of the past decade, a soaring little melody whose infectious allure only makes it more difficult to ignore. Love it or hate it – and after its relentless ad campaign, there are plenty of folks in both camps – the Foxwoods Casino theme, “Wonder of It All” sung by Johnny Pizzarelli, has become part of the culture.

It certainly has helped raise the visibility of Pizzarelli, who was mostly known as the son of jazz guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli before he began invading our living rooms. His version is about halfway between Frank Sinatra and Bobby Darin: earnest, engaging, even fun in a campy way.

But now the casino wants a new take on the old favorite, and has embarked on a “Wonder of It All” contest. A preliminary round of voting by fans and judging by casino officials has led to 10 finalists, all of them New England acts.

At 8 p.m. Saturday, they will perform before a panel of judges at Fox Theater. The winner will receive a bevy of prizes, including $25,000 cash, studio time, equipment, a continuing contract for TV and radio spots, and, presumably, frequent concert dates at the casino.

Among the final 10 are three acts familiar to local music fans: Hanover’s Amanda Carr, who is singing with the 16-piece band of Quincy’s Kenny Hadley; Rhode Island’s Steve Smith and the Nakeds; and the North Shore’s disco revivalists, Booty Vortex.

Performers are not allowed to alter the jingle, just sing it with a new spin and attitude.

“Johnny Pizzarelli’s version is really mainstream, big band jazz,” said Carr. “And that is really a great jingle; it’s golden. It is distinctive, it sticks in your head, it does everything you’d want. I can understand why they don’t want to change it. Our challenge is to create one that maybe appeals to a new demographic.”

Smith said: “We just jumped into this thing two weeks before the deadline. Foxwoods definitely wants a different feel. We tried to just do ours Nakeds style: rock ’n’ roll with a horn section. You don’t have much room to change it up a lot. ... The thing that concerns me a bit is that Saturday we all get just 60 seconds to play our versions, so you have to be on your game right away.”

Carr has been busy this winter, and recently returned from the Sundance Film Festival in Utah. Boston-area native Michael Chiklis asked her to write a song for his new film, “High School,” and she performed it in concert at the fest.

Smith and his 10-piece band are as busy as ever and are due back at the C-Note in Hull on April 17.

Carr will be appearing at the C-Note, too, on March 6 as part of the State of Mind rock band, a project she describes as kind of a reunion of her favorite Beantown rocker pals.